I turn my eyes away, glancing down at the sand beneath my feet. Perhaps it was a flash of sunlight reflected from the water that momentarily blinded me. Yet if so, it doesn't bother her. I can feel her gaze on me, the power of it tingling, warmer than the slanting rays of the setting sun.
I can't imagine what it's been like for her, the waiting, the uncertainty. At least I knew she was safe, with friends to look out for her. The emptiness of separation is difficult enough without the added worry that an enemy's blade, sorcerer's spell, or assassin's poison could at any moment put an end to a life that gives my heart reason to keep beating.
I finally lift my eyes, unable to be without the sight of her any longer. All the time that has passed since the day I left this world fades in my memory. Battles, training, lessons, even celebrations--none of it can hold my attention as she does with her mere presence. None of it could be as real.
"Yo!" I call out to her. I know, now, what I took for granted while I grew up with her constant companionship. "Tadaima."
I'm home.
Wherever she is, that's where I belong.
She hesitates, at first, perhaps in disbelief. It doesn't take long for her to surge into action, however, running toward me, her arms flung outward as she shouts my name...in joyful greeting, I hope.
It's my turn to pause, startled. I'm Urameshi Yuusuke, the battle-hardened S-class youkai who laughs at challenges, and still I find myself instinctively flinching at her energetic charge. It turns out I have reason; her flying tackle knocks us both to the ground.
"Ouch!" But she can tell my protest is just for show. I could never resist the touch of her body, not even if it cost me a moment of pain. Now she lies half atop me, her arms around my neck, her face so close I can feel the tickling caress of her breath.
She's going to kiss me. The intensity of her expression leaves no doubt.
I want it, too, even if that best friend of mine watching laughs his fool head off. I've dreamed of what it would be like to taste her. I close my eyes, expectant, aware of every shift in the contact between her body and mine.
Suddenly my eyes snap open with the shock of realization. She has kissed me before, though I wasn't exactly in a position to enjoy it. She gave me a wonderful gift, bringing me back to life, and I missed it. I refuse to miss anything this time. I want to remember every detail of the experience, every moment of my first real kiss.
Her lips touch mine, soft and a little salty from the ocean spray. I accept her passionate guidance, blinking in amazement at her focused heat. It makes me glad I've never done this before, despite the taunting I've endured from my fellows in the Makai. If I had known the pure delight she could stir up in me with so simple a gesture, the wait would have seemed many times as long.
How hard it must have been for her.
I want this to continue forever. Just the two of us, joined by our history, our friendship, the warmth of our bodies, and the bone-deep knowledge that this is *right*. For an instant, as her tongue traces mine and an answering fire kindles inside me, I believe this truly is eternal.
Then, all too soon, I'm gasping for air, my ardor unceremoniously dampened by a chill ocean wave. I sit up, still attempting to recover from the interruption, and see Keiko--just as stunned--a short distance away. My first instinct is to curse the unwelcome drenching, but it doesn't take me long to figure out it saved me from an even greater embarrassment. She smiles at me, perhaps understanding my mixed relief, and I grin in response.
I'm home. That's what matters. The rest--that will come, in its own time. We have a lot to look forward to together.
Might as well begin with having fun.